Kilkenny to Killarney...

It's about 100km as the crow flies from Kilkenny to Killarney, and we set our Garmin to shortest distance so that it would take us the interesting back roads rather than go an extra distance looking for faster main roads. This was a good strategy, and we had an interesting drive which, with stops, took us almost all day.

Flower pots made from used tyres seem to be a thing along the road out of Kilkenny.

The Rock of Cachel gives its name to the nearby town. The Rock is a hill of stratified limestone, and the stunning ruins built atop it date to 1100AD (the tower) and 1270 (the Cathedral).

A beautiful ruin on the Golden Vale below the Rock of Cachel.

The largest town we went through was Tipperary. But several other interesting places attracted our attention on the way included Cashel (which means ringfort) whose strongest feature is a spectacular tower and cathedral atop a huge limestone rock. Half a millenium before these were constructed, in pagan times, Saint Patrick preached on the rock. The Queen visited here on her only ever State visit to Ireland in 2011.

Our rented Volvo parked in the tiny and very cute hamlet of Emly.

Where else but Emly could you buy a cuppa from a pub that looks like this?

Other distractions for us on this drive were Emly (a cute little town that we chose for a break) and Kanturk (where a splendid unexpected castle with an interesting history appeared out of the blue).

The R515 passes through this arch in Kilmallock on our drive to Killarney.

Kanturk Castle is a strongly fortfied residence built in 1601 to ward off English settlers, but it was never finished when the Privy Council in London heard of it.

Our Garmin couldn't avoid the N72 as the shortest way into Killarney for the last 20km or so of the journey.